Research platform supports pandemic insights

Edinburgh researchers are part of a new hub to support the recovery of global communities from Covid-19.

The Political Settlements Research Programme, based in Edinburgh Law School, will be part of the Covid Collective to deliver research to tackle the social, political and economic consequences of the pandemic.

The Covid Collective research platform – funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office – will bring together the expertise of eight partner organisations.

Other partners include the University of Manchester, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Overseas Development Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development.

They will work alongside international partners, the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development in Bangladesh and the Center for Global Development in the US.

Research themes

The research themes the new platform will explore include governance, social development, inclusion, conflict and the environment.

The research will have a particular focus on Iraq, Syria and the Yemen in the Middle East and Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Covid Collective – coordinated by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) – will facilitate joint research and support evidence-informed action through knowledge sharing, project leaders say.

Political settlements

The Political Settlements research programme (PSRP), led by Professor Christine Bell are leading research into the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak on peace processes and armed conflict across the world.

The research aims to understand how Covid-19 responses are affecting prospects for successful mediation among conflict negotiators at national and local levels, with a particular focus on South Sudan, Yemen, and Syria. In particular, they will analyse the impact of peace processes moving into the digital space.

Researchers will track the ongoing ceasefire response to the United Nations’ call for a global ceasefire to support the fight against coronavirus in March, and examine how response of regional organisations are connecting their work on conflict and health.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to this new multidisciplinary research platform, and to support the Covid Collective’s mission to bring social science research support to policy makers and decision makers dealing with the pandemic in developing contexts.

The Political Settlements research programme (PSRP) 

[Image credit -Getty Images/ Natali_Mis]